The first thing to do is make a simple jig for cutting circles (arcs) in wood veneer. For this I will be using; an offcut of 18mm MDF, four pieces of 3mm Hardboard (Masonite) and a 6mm dowel.

First drill a 6mm hole 15mm in from two adjacent edges in all the Hardboard pieces.

and a 6mm hole near one end and central in the MDF

Glue the dowel into the hole in the MDF and using a suitable jig, route (with a straight sided bit) the four Hardboard pieces to the required radii; 42, 50, 58 and 66mm.

That’s the jig!

Now to cut some veneer. This is done using a knife. Personally I use a scalpel. When cutting the arcs tape the veneer to the MDF base and cut the lesser of the radii first

The veneer is taped in place so that the same arc centre is used for both arcs to be cut, giving a uniform width over the whole of the piece. Second cut

Do this for all three colours; yellow, orange and red. Four times for each colour. Now the purple segment would have its lowermost tip (side elevation) where the centre of the dowel pin in the jig is so I used the 42mm template freehand to provide some pattern overlap (this will be covered by the black sides, later)

Using a piece of masking tape on the underside I put the pattern together to check the fit.

This looks good so I taped the face side of the three arcs (yellow, orange, red) using veneer tape. This was done for all four sides. I placed an arc on the paper pattern and placed the 66mm radius template over it to perform the cutout in the arc.

This was done for all four arcs, They were taped together, with the purple segments as well and a white (sycamore) centre piece cut (using the edges of the yellow strips as a guide) and taped in. A quick look at the reverse of the pattern shows a fairly good overall fit.

The colours are not uniform on the back as dye penetration through the veneer varied. Using plain veneer the rest of the layer was built out and the result glued to it’s 3mm ply base layer. Its in the clamp drying at present so no picture yet.

Good job on this and way outta my league but I do know what you are doing and how you are doing it, so my mind is still somewhat working!! This is going to be a really nice looking piece once finished.

The veneer is Sycamore, the English variety, as is the solid wood that will be used for the outer, black, skin of the box. This wood is a creamy white in colour. Its a very cheap hardwood and is considered in some parts to be like a weed in the way it grows, almost everywhere. All the wood is dyed with Chestnut, spirit stain. The finish will be spray Acrylic.